Device and method of collecting content playback information

ABSTRACT

An end device that collects content playback information of a user may be provided. The end device including: a storage to store content and a table including playback information of the content in a predetermined local storage address; a control unit to retrieve content, selected by the user, from the storage, to load a storage address of the selected content, and to transmit the storage address to a decoder; and the decoder to store the storage address in the table, to change playback information of the selected content, and to decode the selected content based on the storage address.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2009-0079204, filed on Aug. 26, 2009, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a device and method of collectingcontent playback information that may play content without connecting toa server that provides the content, and collect content playbackinformation.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a content consumption method using a network in a conventional art, auser may play content, downloaded from a server, using a communicationterminal connected to the server providing the content, or may beprovided with content played by the server through streaming whenconnected to the server.

Accordingly, a content provider may ascertain content consumptionpropensity of users based on the number of users provided with contentthrough streaming, or based on the number of downloads.

However, the number of portable devices playing content without accessto a server may increase due to the development of a variety of portabledevices. Accordingly, an amount of content consumed may not be predictedbased on the number of downloads or the number of users provided withcontent through streaming.

Thus, a system and method that may collect and provide a contentprovider with a content play state in devices, which are not connectedto a server, are desired.

BRIEF SUMMARY

An aspect of the present invention provides a system and device whereeach device of a user may collect information about content playback,and where a terminal, connected to the device, may store the informationabout the content playback to store content in the device and thus, theuser or a content provider may be provided with information about aplayback time or a playback count for each content.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided asystem of collecting content playback information for each end device ofa user, the system including: an end device to play stored content, andwhen the content is played, to store playback information that thecontent is played; and a communication terminal to be connected to theend device, to store the content, provided from a server, in the enddevice when connected to the end device, to receive playbackinformation, stored in the end device, to sort and store the receivedplayback information for each end device, and to transmit the playbackinformation, sorted and stored for each end device, to the server.

Also, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is providedan end device of collecting content playback information of a user, theend device including: a storage to store content and a table includingplayback information of the content in a predetermined local storageaddress; a control unit to retrieve content, selected by the user, fromthe storage, to load a storage address of the selected content, and totransmit the storage address to a decoder; and the decoder to store thestorage address in the table, to change playback information of theselected content, and to decode the selected content based on thestorage address.

Also, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of collecting content playback information of a user, themethod including: storing playback information about content playback inan end device, when content is played; receiving, by a communicationterminal, the playback information, stored in the end device, when theend device is connected to the communication terminal, sorting andstoring the playback information for each end device; and providing, bythe communication terminal, a server or a user with the stored playbackinformation.

Also, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of collecting content playback information of a user, themethod including: storing contents, and generating a table includingplayback information of the contents in a predetermined local storageaddress; receiving information of content selected by a user; retrievingthe content, selected by the user, from the contents stored when thetable is generated, based on the information of the selected content,and loading a storage address of the selected content; transmitting thestorage address of the selected content to a decoder; storing thestorage address in the table, and changing playback information of theselected content; and decoding the selected content based on the storageaddress.

According to the present invention, each device of a user may collectinformation about content playback and thus, the user or a contentprovider may be provided with information about a playback time or aplayback count for each content.

Also, according to the present invention, a user may combine a devicewith (*connect a device to a personal media station of the user,information about content playback, collected by the device, may bestored in the personal media station for each device when storing ordeleting content, and the information may be mapped for each content andthus, the user or a content provider may be provided with informationabout a playback time or a playback count for each content.

Also, according to the present invention, a server providing content maysort, combine, or map information, which is provided by a personal mediastation of a user, about a playback time or a playback count for eachcontent and thus, a content provider may be provided with statistics ofa playback count of the provided content or information about contentprovided for each user.

Additional aspects, features, and/or advantages of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will beapparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects, features, and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent and more readily appreciated from the followingdescription of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system of collectingcontent playback information for each device of a user according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of operations of a system ofcollecting content playback information for each device of a useraccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration andoperations of an end device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of operations of PlaybackHistory Table (PHT) addressing in an end device according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of apersonal media station and operations between the personal media stationand an end device according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation of mappingplayback information with content information according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. Exemplary embodiments are described below to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, enddevices, consuming content provided by a server without connecting tothe server, may collect playback information of the content, played ineach of the end devices. A personal media station may receive theplayback information, collected by the end devices, from an end devicewhich is connected to store content. Accordingly, a user may ascertaininformation about content, played in all end devices of the user, andprovide the server with the information about the content.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system of collectingcontent playback information for each device of a user according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The system may include an end device 110, a personal media station 120,and a server 130. In this instance, a plurality of end devices 110 andpersonal media stations 120 may be included in the system as illustratedin FIG. 1.

The end device 110, possessed by the user, may store content, play thecontent according to a request from the user, and collect playbackinformation associated with the content playback.

In this instance, the playback information that may be collected by theend device 110 may include at least one of a playback count for eachcontent, stored in the end device 110, and a playback time for eachcontent, and a total playback time of all the contents having beenplayed.

The end device 110 may be a device capable of storing and playingcontent, and be any one of a Portable Media Player (PMP), a portableterminal, a notebook computer, and a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)Audio-Layer 3 (MP3) player.

An operation of the end device 110 is described in detail with referenceto FIGS. 3 and 4.

The personal media station 120 may be connected to the end device 110and obtain content playback information for each end device 110. Thatis, each of the personal media stations 120 may be connected to each ofthe end devices 110, obtain the playback information of each of the enddevices 110, and generate playback information for each content of theuser by combining the obtained playback information. In this instance,the personal media station 120 may provide the user with the generatedplayback information for each content of the user.

Also, the personal media station 120 may download content from theserver 130, and transmit the downloaded content to the connected enddevice 110. Also, the personal media station 120 may transmit thegenerated playback information for each content of the user to theserver 130.

Also, when the user connects the end device 110 to the personal mediastation 120, and stores or deletes content, the personal media station120 may synchronize the playback information, collected by the enddevice 110, and store the playback information for each end device.

The personal media station 120 may be accessible to a wired/wirelessnetwork to connect to the server 130, and be a communication terminalthat may be connected to and synchronized with the end device 110 suchas a Personal Computer (PC), a notebook computer, and the like. In thisinstance, the personal media station 120 may be a communication terminalwhere a system of obtaining content playback information for each deviceof a user is installed according to a permission of the user. Here, thepersonal media system may obtain content playback information of adevice.

Also, the system of obtaining content playback information for eachdevice of a user may include a program that may be connected to the enddevice 110 and obtain the content playback information for each enddevice, a program that may provide the end device 100 with content, aprogram that may combine playback information and generate playbackinformation for each content of a user, and a program that may transmitthe playback information for each content of the user to the server 130.

The personal media station 120 may determine whether the content,included in the playback information for each content of the user, islegitimately provided from the server 130 in connection with the server130, and may include a result of determining in the playback informationfor each content of the user.

An operation of the personal media station 120 is described in greaterdetail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

The server 130 may store content, and transmit the content according toa request from the personal media station 120. Also, the personal mediastation 120 may generate information about content playback for eachuser and total playback information for each content, based on playbackinformation for each content transmitted from the personal media station120. Here, the information about content playback for each user may beinformation about content played by the user possessing the personalmedia station 120, and the total playback information for each contentmay indicate total content played by all users.

Specifically, the server 130 may obtain the information about contentplayback for each user by storing the playback information for eachcontent, transmitted from the personal media stations 120, for eachpersonal media station 120. Also, the server 130 may map contents in theinformation about content playback for each user, add values of thecontents, played for each user, and thereby may generate the totalplayback information for each content as the added value.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of operations of a system ofcollecting content playback information for each device of a useraccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

A legacy content consuming environment 210 may be a content consumingenvironment in a conventional art, and be associated with when content,produced by a content provider, may be played in only the personal mediastation 120.

In this instance, the server 130 may store content 211 which is serviceinformation, and the user may use the content 211 through streaming inthe personal media station 120 through a network provided by a networkprovider, or through downloading.

Conversely, a cross media/multi-platforming content consumingenvironment may be a content consuming environment of a system ofcollecting content playback information for each device of a useraccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Also, thecross media/multi-platforming content consuming environment may beassociated with when content, produced by a content provider, may beplayed in each end device 110 of the user. Also, the crossmedia/multi-platforming content consuming environment may include adownload operation 220 to store content in the end device 110, and acollection operation 230 to collect content playback information fromthe end device 110.

In the download operation 220, the user may download and store thecontent 221, stored in the server 130, in the personal media station 120through a network, or the server 130 may transmit the content 221 to thepersonal media station 120 through podcasting based on setting of theuser.

In this instance, the personal media station 120 may store thedownloaded or transmitted content 221 in the end device 110 throughsynchronization with the connected end device 110, in operation 222.

In this instance, the end device 110 may store the content 221 by beingconnected to the personal media station 120 by the user, and besynchronized with the personal media station 120, or download and storethe content 221 from the personal media station 120.

Also, the end device 110 may consume the content 221 by playing andproviding the content 221 to the user, in operation 223.

In the collection operation 230, every time the end device 110 consumesthe content 221, the end device 110 may update and store a content usagehistory by each device level 231, 232, and 233. In this instance, thecontent usage history by each device level 231, 232, and 233 may includeat least one of a playback count of the content 221, a playback timethat the content 221 is played, and a play frequency that the content221 is played.

The personal media station 120 may receive the content usage history byeach device level 231, stored in the end device 110, from the end device110 which is connected to store the content 221. In this instance, thepersonal media station 120 may receive any one of the content usagehistory by each device level 231, 232, and 233 for each end device 110.

Also, the personal media station 120 may store a content usage historyby personal level 234, 235, and 236 including at least one of thecontent usage history by each device level 231, 232, and 233,synchronization information, and download information. Here, thesynchronization information may indicate whether the content 221 issynchronized with the end device 110 and stored, and the downloadinformation may indicate whether the content 221 is downloaded from theend device 110 and stored.

The server 130 may receive the content usage history by personal level234, 235, and 236 from the personal media station 120, and determineinformation about purchase of the content 221 or aggregate userinformation, in operation 237.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration andoperations of the end device 110 according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

The end device 110 may include a storage 310, a control unit 320, an MP3decoder 330, and an H.264/MPEG decoder 340, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Hereinafter, the configuration is described in detail.

The storage 310, which is a NAND storage 310, may store content A 311and a table 312 including playback information about content playback.

In this instance, as illustrated in an example 313 of the table 312, theplayback information about content playback may include at least one ofa local storage address of the content A 311, a playback count, and aplayback time that the content A 311 is played.

Also, a Playback History Table (PHT) may be generated when the MP3decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 designates (*assigns aparticular address value of the storage 310. The PHT may includeinformation about playback history of the content.

The control unit 320 may load a storage address of content A, selectedby a user in the storage 310, and transmit the storage address to theMP3 decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340. In this instance, thecontrol unit 320 may select a decoder to transmit the storage addressfrom the MP3 decoder 330 and the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 depending on theselected content A.

Specifically, the control unit 320 may receive information about theselected content A from the user in operation 350. Also, the controlunit 320 may retrieve the selected content A from the storage 310 basedon the information about the selected content A and load the storageaddress of the selected content A in operation 360. Also, the controlunit 320 may transmit the storage address to the MP3 decoder 330 or theH.264/MPEG decoder 340 in operation 370.

In this instance, the storage address, loaded by the control unit 320,may be a local storage address of the selected content A.

The control unit 320 may be configured as a firmware or a chipset, andassign a storage address of the storage 310 based on a feature of theend device 110.

When the end device 110 is initialized, the control unit 320 maypartition the storage 310, assign addresses, and request the MP3 decoder330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 to generate the PHT.

The MP3 decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 may store the storageaddress of the content A in the PHT in operation 380, and decode theselected content A based on the storage address of the content A.

In this instance, when the address to be stored is not stored in thePHT, the MP3 decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 may add theaddress as a new address. When the address to be stored is stored in thePHT, the MP3 decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 may increase astorage count of the storage address stored in the PHT. In thisinstance, the storage count may correspond to the storage address, andbe a playback count of content stored in the storage 310.

Also, the MP3 decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 may storeinformation about a point in time the storage address of the content Aas well as the storage address of the content A are stored. In thisinstance, the information about the point in time may correspond to thestorage address and be a playback time that the stored content isplayed.

The MP3 decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 may be a chipset wherean instruction to store playback information is installed. Also, whenthe end device 110 is initialized, the MP3 decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEGdecoder 340 may generate a PHT in a particular address value of thestorage 310 according to a request from the control unit 320. In thisinstance, an address value used by the PHT may be in a range of 256 Kbto 2 Mb. Also, the particular address value may be set differentlydepending on the feature of the end device 110.

Also, the MP3 decoder 330 or the H.264/MPEG decoder 340 may be replacedwith another decoder depending on the end device 110 and the content A311.

Hereinafter, operations of the end device 110 are described in detail.

The end device 110 may receive a request of playing the selected contentA and information about the selected content A from the user.Specifically, the control unit 320 may receive a command to select andplay the content A from the user in operation 350.

In operation 360, the control unit 320 may retrieve a local storageaddress of the content A from the storage 310 based on the receivedcommand, and load the local storage address.

In operation 370, the control unit 320 may transmit the loaded localstorage address of the content A to the MP3 decoder 330 that may decodethe content A.

In operation 380, the MP3 decoder 330 may store the transmitted localstorage address of the content A in the PHT. Also, the MP3 decoder 330may store information about the point in time that the local storageaddress of the content A is stored.

Subsequently, the MP3 decoder 330 may decode the content A, stored inthe storage 310, based on the local storage address of the content A,and thereby may provide the user with the selected content.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation of PHTaddressing in an end device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates the example of PHT addressing operation in the MP3decoder 330 when the control unit 320 is configured as a firmware.

In operation 410, a manufacturer of the end device 110 or a user mayinput firmware burning in the control unit 320 to initialize the enddevice 110. In operation 420, the control unit 320 may partition thestorage 310 and assign addresses.

In operation 430, the control unit 320 may perform PHT addressingsetting, and perform transmission to the MP3 decoder 330.

In operation 440, an instruction, included in the MP3 decoder 330, mayreceive the PHT addressing setting, a PHT address may be set based onthe received PHT address setting, a reference address point may betransmitted to the storage 310, and a PHT 312 may be generated.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of apersonal media station and operations between the personal media station120 and an end device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

The personal media station 120 may include an end device usage reader510, a storage unit 520, a mapping unit 530, and a communication unit540 as illustrated in FIG. 5.

Hereinafter, the configuration is further described.

The end device usage reader 510 may be synchronized with the connectedend device 110, and obtain playback information of the end device 110.In this instance, the end device usage reader 510 may further obtaincontent information of content stored in the end device 110.

Specifically, the end device usage reader 510 may request the end device110 for PHT data in operation 560. In operation 570, the PHT data may betransmitted to the end device 110. In operation 580, the end deviceusage reader 510 may sort the received PHT data by each item of enddevice 110, and store the PHT data in the storage unit 520.

In this instance, the PHT data may include at least one of a localstorage address of content stored in the storage 310, a playback countof the content, and a playback time that the content is played.

Also, the end device usage reader 510 may request the end device 110 forinformation about the content. When the information about the content istransmitted by the end device 110, the end device usage reader 510 maysort the transmitted information for each end device 110, and store theinformation in the storage unit 520.

In this instance, the content information may include the local storageaddress, identification information, and metadata of the content storedin the end device 110.

The storage unit 520 may sort the playback information and the contentinformation for each end device 110, and store the playback informationand the content information. Also, the storage unit 520 may storeplayback information for each content of a user. The playbackinformation for each content of the user may include information aboutplayback of corresponding content for each content. In this instance,the storage unit 520 may store the playback information and the contentinformation in a form of PHT, as illustrated in an example 521.

Also, the storage unit 520 may store content downloaded from the server130.

In this instance, the playback information for each content of the usermay include at least one of identification information of each content,information about a point in time that the content is downloaded fromthe server 130, a sum of playback counts that the content is played inthe end device 110, and a sum of playback times that the content isplayed in the end device 110.

In this instance, the sum of playback times that the content is playedin the end device 110 may be calculated based on the sum of playbackcounts that the content is played in the end device 110 and a total playtime of the content. When the end device 110 includes an MP3 decoderthat additionally stores information about a decoding end time in thePHT, the sum of playback times that the content is played in the enddevice 110 may be calculated based on a point in time that the content,stored in the storage 310, is played and information about the decodingend time.

The mapping unit 530 may map the playback information and the contentinformation, determine playback information for each content in the enddevice 110, and generate playback information for each content of a userbased on the playback information for each content in the end device110.

Specifically, the mapping unit 530 may map a local storage address ofthe playback information and a local storage address of the contentinformation, and determine the playback information for each content inthe end device 110. Here, the playback information for each content inthe end device 110 may include at least one of the identificationinformation, the playback count, and the playback time of the contentstored in the end device 110.

In this instance, when the playback information for each content of theuser includes content corresponding to the identification information,the mapping unit 530 may add a playback count of the contentcorresponding to the identification information to a playback count ofthe playback information for each content in the end device 110.

A mapping method of the mapping unit 530 is described in greater detailwith reference to FIG. 6.

The communication unit 540 may download content from the server 130, andstore the content in the storage unit 520. Also, the communication unit540 may transmit the playback information for each content of the useror the playback information for each content in the end device 110,which are determined by the mapping unit 530, and user identificationinformation to the server 130. Accordingly, the communication unit 540may enable the server 130 to obtain information about content playbackfor each user.

Hereinafter, the operations of the personal media station 120 aredescribed in detail.

In operation 550, the end device usage reader 510 may request thecontrol unit 320 of the end device 110 for a PHT address, and receivethe PHT address stored in the storage 310 from the control unit 320.Here, the end device 110 may be connected to the personal media station120.

In operation 560, the end device usage reader 510 may request thecontrol unit 320 for PHT data based on the PHT address.

In operation 570, the control unit 320 may load the PHT data from thestorage 310 according to the request from the end device usage reader510, and transmit the PHT data to the end device usage reader 510.

In operation 580, the end device usage reader 510 may sort the receivedPHT data for each end device 110, and store the PHT data in the storageunit 520.

Also, the end device usage reader 510 may request the control unit 320for the content information, and receive and store the contentinformation in the storage unit 520 in a same manner as the operation ofreceiving and storing the PHT data.

Specifically, the end device usage reader 510 may load identificationinformation and local storage address of content stored in the storage310, and receive the content information from the control unit 320.Also, the end device usage reader 510 may sort the content informationtransmitted by the end device 110, and store the content information.

Also, the mapping unit 530 may map a local storage address of theplayback information, stored in the storage unit 520, and a localstorage address of the content information, and determine the playbackinformation for each content including at least one of theidentification information, the playback count, and the playback time.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation of mappingplayback information with content information according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the example where the mapping unit 530 generatesplayback information 630 for each content of the user, when the storageunit 520 stores PHT information 610 of a first end device, contentinformation 620 of the first end device, PHT information 640 of a secondend device, and content information 650 of the second end device.

The mapping unit 530 may determine the content information 620 of thefirst end device. The content information 620 of the first end devicemay include a device index 621 which is identical to a device index 611of the PHT information 610 of the first end device.

Also, the mapping unit 530 may map a local storage address 612 of thePHT information 610 and a local storage address 622 of the contentinformation 620, and determine playback information for each content inan end device. The playback information for each content in an enddevice may include a content file name 623 and a playback count 613 ofcontent stored in the end device.

Also, the mapping unit 530 may generate or add playback information 630for each content of the user based on the playback information for eachcontent in an end device.

For example, in content 631 including the content file name 623 of‘AAA’, a playback count 632 is set as 24 in the playback information 630for each content of the user. Accordingly, the mapping unit 530 may addthe playback count 613 of ‘3’ to the playback count 632 of ‘24’ tochange the playback count 632 to 27.

Also, the mapping unit 530 may determine the content information 650 ofthe second end device. The content information 650 may include a deviceindex 651 which is identical to a device index 641 of the PHTinformation 640 of the second end device.

Also, the mapping unit 530 may map a local storage address 642 of thePHT information 640 and a local storage address 652 of the contentinformation 650, and determine playback information for each content inan end device. The playback information for each content in an enddevice may include a content file name 653 and a playback count 643 ofcontent stored in the device.

Also, the mapping unit 530 may generate or add the playback information630 for each content of the user based on the playback information foreach content in an end device.

For example, content 633 including the content file name 653 of ‘BBB’ isnot stored in the playback information 630 for each content of the user.Accordingly, the mapping unit 530 may add the playback information foreach content in an end device including the content file name 653 andthe playback count 643. In this instance, a playback count 634 may be‘3’ which is identical to the playback count 643.

As described above, the system of collecting content playbackinformation for each device of a user may collect information aboutcontent playback of each device of the user, and thereby may provide theuser or a content provider with information about a playback count or aplayback time for each content in an end device.

Also, when the user stores or deletes content by connecting the enddevice to a personal media station, information about playback of thecollected content for each device may be stored in the personal mediastation, and the information for each content may be mapped.Accordingly, the user or the content provider may be provided withinformation about a playback count or a playback time for each contentof the user.

Also, a server, providing content, may sort, combine, or map theinformation about the playback count or playback time for each contentof the user. Accordingly, the content provider may be provided withstatistics of the playback count or information about content providedfor each user.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention may be recordedin computer-readable media including program instructions to implementvarious operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include,alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, datastructures, and the like. Examples of computer-readable media includemagnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape;optical media such as CD ROM disks and DVDs; magneto-optical media suchas optical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured tostore and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like. Examples ofprogram instructions include both machine code, such as produced by acompiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed bythe computer using an interpreter. The described hardware devices may beconfigured to act as one or more software modules in order to performthe operations of the above-described exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, or vice versa.

Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beenshown and described, the present invention is not limited to thedescribed exemplary embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that changes may be made to these exemplaryembodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of theinvention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An end device of collecting content playbackinformation of a user, the end device comprising: a storage to storecontent and a table including playback history information of thecontent in a predetermined local storage address, the playback historyinformation including at least a playback count; a control unit toretrieve content, selected by the user, from the storage, to load astorage address of the selected content, and to transmit the storageaddress to a decoder; and wherein the decoder is configured to store thestorage address in the table, to change at least a playback count ofrespective playback information of the selected content, and to decodethe selected content based on the storage address, wherein the enddevice downloads the content by synchronizing with a personal mediastation, in which a program configured to collect playback historyinformation of contents is installed according to a permission of theuser, and wherein the end device transmits the playback historyinformation of the content from the storage to the personal mediastation which updates a content usage history for the end device basedin part on the playback history information transmitted.
 2. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the control unit is a firmware or a chipset.
 3. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the storage address is a local storageaddress.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the predetermined localstorage address storing the table is set differently depending on acharacteristic of the device.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein theplayback history information further includes the storage address,transmitted to the decoder, a number of times that the storage addressis transmitted, and information about a point in time the storageaddress is transmitted.
 6. A method of collecting content playbackinformation of a user implemented by an end device, the methodcomprising: downloading content by synchronizing with a personal mediastation, in which a program configured to collect playback historyinformation of contents is installed according to a permission of theuser; storing the content in a storage of the end device, and generatinga table including playback history information of the contents in apredetermined local storage address, the playback history informationincludes at least a playback count; retrieving the content selected bythe user, and loading a storage address of the selected content;transmitting the storage address of the selected content to a decoder;storing the storage address in the table, and changing at least aplayback count of respective playback information of the selectedcontent; decoding the selected content based on the storage address; andtransmitting, to the personal media station, the playback historyinformation of the content, wherein the personal media station isconfigured to update a content usage history for the end device based inpart on the playback history information transmitted.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the storage address is a local storage address.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the predetermined local storage is setdifferently depending on a feature of a device.
 9. The method of claim6, wherein the playback history information further includes the storageaddress, transmitted to the decoder, a number of times that the storageaddress is transmitted, and a point in time that the storage address istransmitted.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readable recording mediumstoring a program configured to implement a method of collecting contentplayback information of a user, the method comprising: downloadingcontent by synchronizing with a personal media station, in which aprogram configured to collect playback history information of contentsis installed according to a permission of the user; storing the content,and generating a table including playback history information of thecontents in a predetermined local storage address, the playback historyinformation includes at least a playback count; retrieving the content,selected by the user and loading a storage address of the selectedcontent; transmitting the storage address of the selected content to adecoder; storing the storage address in the table, and changing at leasta playback count of respective playback information of the selectedcontent; decoding the selected content based on the storage address; andtransmitting, to the personal media station, the playback historyinformation of the content, wherein the personal media station isconfigured to update a content usage history for the end device based inpart on the playback history information transmitted.